Petals in the Wind
by Wolf Aerith
Summary: Sesshomaru is on a journey to obtain a powerful artifact, but must bring Kagome along with him for reasons unknown even to himself. SesKag
1. Prelude

Petals in the Wind- Prelude

Sesshomaru was not amused.

"Lord, I am only the prophet. I only convey what must be done. You asked what you needed, and I gave you the quest that will reveal it to you. This girl," her face appeared in the swirling mist contained within the crystal ball, "is a vital part of your quest. I do not know why." He glared down at the small, frail woman, who was sitting on the stony floor of the cave. Her skin was yellowing and papery, her face covered in wrinkles. Her eyes were misted over with the white film of blindness, and her kimono was plain white. He could kill her. It would take less than a moment, and nobody would know, for humans do not wander this deep into caves, and yokai do not bother to care about dead humans unless it brings them power. This old, frail oracle's death would change nothing.

He sat before her, suddenly.

"Prophet, repeat what you know." He said, and prepared to memorize the old woman's tale.


	2. Chapter 1 A New Adventure?

Chapter One- A New Adventure?

Kagome had moved out of her parents shrine and gotten a place of her own. It was a small house with two floors, two bedrooms, and beautiful old trees around it. It was only a short walk away from her college and her parent's shrine. She was studying to become a history teacher, and she visited her parents when she had free time. She still visited her friends in the past, too.

Now when she visited them, she didn't take a backpack full of supplies, and no longer wore a school uniform. The grand adventure was over, and, apart from the occasional demon, things were quiet. She's sit around the fire with everyone and laugh, but it was never quite the same; especially with Kikyo now in the group. She'd married Inuyasha, of course, just as Sango had married Miroku. As much as Kagome hated to admit it, she was jealous. Inuyasha had broken her heart, and she wanted to be Kikyo so badly it hurt. She couldn't watch them kiss, and she had to ignore their whispered sweet nothings.

She fell into the hollow life of repetition; classes all week, studying, going out with her friends on Friday night, housework and visiting her parents, jumping down that well every Sunday.

Kagome couldn't help but have that little glimmer of hope that she'd jump down that well and it'd just be like old times, and Inuyasha would yell at her for how long she'd be gone. She'd hop on his back and they'd take off, to get themselves into more trouble.

But it would never be the same.

Kagome reflected on this as she pulled on a plain white and blue kimono, pulled her hair up into a bun. She jumped down into the well gracefully, being used to it now, and landed softly, pulling herself up the ladder on the side of the well. Walking toward town she sighed.

_I wish something interesting would happen for once…_

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. She sensed an extremely powerful demon, and it was close. She started to run; she knew this feeling, but couldn't remember from where.

_If I can just get to the others, get to my bow and arrows!_

She broke free of the clearing too late to realize the power had shifted and was now coming from toward the village. Sesshomaru stood before her, emotionless, and surrounded by her friends. Shippou bravely threw the bow and arrows to Kagome who caught and instantly drew one, knocking it and pointing it at him. Inuyasha had Tetseiga out, Kikyo had her own bow out, and Miroku and Sango were at the ready. Sesshomaru was outnumbered and surrounded. And he looked almost amused.

"Relax. I am not here to kill you all today." He murmured, and Inuyasha growled.

"Yeah, right, Sesshomaru! I suppose you're hear to make friends, too?" Sesshomaru sniffed.

"Hardly." Tension stretched the atmosphere and everyone but Sesshomaru seemed to be breathing hard.

_Why is he here? For Tetseiga? _Kagome thought nervously.

"What do you want, Sesshomaru?" Kagome demanded, hoping he couldn't hear the nervous ness in her voice. He looked at her like one would look at something rather entertaining and boring at the same time.

"I must speak with you. Away from your…friends." Kagome studied his face for any signs that he could be lying.

"Why away from the others?" she asked.

"The matter of which I would like to speak is not something they would need to know." He replied simply. She looked around the group quickly. Every person was ready for a fight, convinced he was up to no good, but she glanced down and noticed that Sesshomaru did not carry Tenseiga.

"Walk with me, Sesshomaru." Kagome replied, lowering her bow. There were instantly protests. "We'll stay within sight. Please, Don't worry." She said, reassuring them, and they reluctantly agreed.

And so Sesshomaru and Kagome walked along the tree line until they were out of even Inuyasha's hearing.


	3. Chapter 2 A Strange Request

Petals in the Wind Ch 2- A Strange Request

Kagome had grown; she no longer wore a flouncy school uniform and she now put her hair up delicately. The bags under her eyes indicated lack of sleep, and her eyes seemed older; she no longer seemed so naïve or childish. Sesshomaru was noticing these things as they walked, side by side.

She kept her guard up, knowing that Sesshomaru didn't need Tenseiga to do damage; his claws could kill her just the same, if not better. Finally, the two reached the edge of a pond, and Sesshomaru stopped walking. Kagome took a few steps forward, then turned to him, and sighed.

"Why are you here, Sesshomaru? We have no quarrel. You cannot wield Tetseiga, so what else could you want from us?" He looked at her for a moment before answering.

"I have no quarrels with you at the moment, this is true. And you are correct in saying that I cannot wield Tetseiga." She looked up at him. There was some hesitation in his voice, as if he wasn't quite sure what to say. And it was true; no matter how many times Sesshomaru had run this conversation through his head on the way here, he could find no good way to put it.

"Sesshomaru, tell me why you're here, before Inuyasha comes over here and you loose your privacy."

"I am on a quest. I went to see an oracle, recently, and she…brought a certain item to my attention." Kagome was silent. "I am in need of this…item. She told me where I could begin to look for it." He looked away at this point, looking off to the sun that was slowly moving down on the horizon; daylight was almost gone. "She told me that there was a certain person that needed to accompany me, although she was unable to see why."

"So you came here to get one of us? Well Sango won't go with you, good luck convincing Miroku to leave her, and I'm sure you're not here for Inu-"

"You." He interrupted.

"What?"

"She told me I needed you to accompany me." Kagome blinked.

"I have no skills, no knowledge that could possibly help you on this…quest."

"I am well aware of your incompetence, and pointed out those very flaws to the oracle, but she was insistent."

"Incompetence?" Kagome repeated. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. She sighed, and looked back over at the group, who were all waiting, on edge. She saw Inuyasha break from the group, bounding toward them. Just the sight of Kikyo running with the others made her feel that she'd been replaced. Here she was, on the other side of the battle, standing with, of all people, Sesshomaru.

"I'll go with you." She heard herself say.

_Did I just agree to go with him? Wait- stop, say no, never mind, just kidding!_

She couldn't listen to herself though, because, deep down, she wanted the adventure back, the belonging, the purpose that her life was lacking.

"Alright this is it, get outta here, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha yelled, making a stand. The group hurried up, taking positions around him.

"Come on, Kagome, let's go back!" Kikyo urged, holding out her hand. Kagome shook her head.

"I'm not going back." Inuyasha's head whipped around so fast that his hair slapped Miroku in the face.

"What?"

"She'll be traveling with me for a while, brother." Sesshomaru spoke, icily. Inuyasha stared at her.

"S-she's obviously not feeling well. Come on Kagome. Snap out of-"

"Inuyasha, I'm going with him. He needs my help."

"So? He's tried to kill us before! Come on!"

"No, Inuyasha, I'm going to go with him." Kagome replied, looking down.

"Why?!"

The response burst out of her mouth before she could even think, and the stunned faces of everyone met her eyes and filled her with terror. She felt numb, only dimly aware of Sesshomaru Grabbing her, picking her up, marriage style, bounding into the woods. The only thing she felt was the harsh pounding of the words echoing after her:

_Because you love her, not me!_


End file.
